Second Edition
Listening & Speaking
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Unit 1: Character
NARRATOR: Do animals have a
personality? Scientists at a British university
are studying the ‘gray squirrel’ to find out.
Gray squirrels came from North America.
There are now more gray squirrels in the UK
than, the native red squirrels. So, why are
they studying gray squirrels to learn about
personality?
DR LISA LEAVER: They’re interesting
to us because they have particular
specializations for catching food. Um,
they’re a really successful invader in the UK
and in Europe, and that might be related
to their abilities to solve problems and
perhaps deal with learning in a different
way or maybe a more efficient way than
other species do.
DR LISA LEAVER: They tend to have
slightly bigger brains relative to their body
sizes.
NARRATOR: The scientists watch the
animals use tools, or ‘apparatus’, to get their
food. This tests how flexible squirrels can
be.
DR LISA LEAVER: We were surprised to
find that flexibility was stable across trials,
across learning how to use this apparatus,
and that indicates that it might be more like
what you would call a personality trait
NARRATOR: These squirrels solve
problems quickly and, over time, become
really good, and quicker, at getting their
food. The study shows that being flexible
is a personality characteristic and this
can help them find more food. Next, the
scientists want to compare the abilities of
the gray squirrel with the red squirrel to see
how animals live in new environments.
DR LISA LEAVER: So looking at differences
between red and gray squirrels, for
instance, and how gray squirrels solve
problems, as opposed to how red squirrels
solve problems, may give us some insight
into how they might differ in their cognitive
abilities and their behaviors which might
help them or hinder them from solving
problems and help them enter new
environments. It might change the way that
we look at how animals solve problems
in the wild, and how something like an
invasive species might or might not be
successful when it faces a new environment
and when it enters a new environment.
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Unit 2: Time
NARRATOR: How do you relax during a
busy day? For some people, this could be
a walk in the park, or reading a book. For
others, a small sleep in the middle of the
day is the best way to relax. These large
chairs are called ‘pods’ and they are places
where you can sleep in the middle of the
day, and, in the middle of a city – New York
city! The room is dark and the pods have
headphones to help you sleep.
ARSHAD CHOWDHURY: The pod is
designed to block out external sound and
external light. The chair itself is loaded with
music that helps you fall asleep, and after
20 minutes, it will actually wake you up. It
wakes up the user with a combination of
vibrations going through the pod, and light.
NARRATOR: Ben is a writer and he often
comes in to use the pods. Why does he do
this?
CLIENT 1 (BEN): It gets me through day.
I don’t drink coffee which makes me an
atypical New Yorker, I guess. But this is …
this is what energises me, this is what keeps
me going.
NARRATOR: So, for Ben, a short sleep gives
him energy. Abdul is a dancer, why does he
use the pods?
CLIENT 2 (ABDUL): It’s either this, or, you
know, the top of a table with your head
down.
NARRATOR: Ed is a businessman. He has a
different reason for using the sleeping pods.
CLIENT 3 (ED): When I am actually resting
in the pod, you know, you can control the
volume of the music and after the first few
minutes I lower the volume and there is
this background noise which makes me feel
like I am in an airplane. So it’s like I can be
anywhere I want to be or think about my
goals and just be a little more creative in my
thinking you and it’s very beneficial.
NARRATOR: These sleeping pods started
in New York but they are now used around
the world. The person who invented the
sleeping pods said that they can be used in
other places too.
ARSHAD CHOWDHURY: We’ve designed
this Metronap pod to work in almost any
setting, that’s why we’ve designed it to work
in airports and highway rest stops and in
corporate offices, we can even install them
in hospital waiting rooms, so we are excited
about the prospects for the future.
Unit 3: Buildings
NARRATOR: The inside of a London house.
A house where everything is controlled
by the Internet. In this house, most things
are automated, in other words, they are
all controlled by computers. Normally, to
control the objects in this house, you need
all of these remote controls. But in this
house you don’t need them for the coffee
table with a built-in computer screen, or a
moving TV screen or the electronic fire. All
you need is your tablet computer.
ROBIN SHEPHARD: Where the internet
comes into your property from then
onwards we can control anything, so
whether it be your Aga cooker, the top of
your swimming pool, your lighting, your
heating, your climate control.
NARRATOR: Robin Shephard is the CEO of
the app that controls the technology in this
house.
But you don’t have to live in a luxury
house and have lots of money to buy
the technology and apps. Here’s Robin
explaining the changing cost of technology.
ROBIN SHEPHARD: Technology prices half
every 12 months, so within 12 months twice
the size of the market can afford the sort of
technology we supply today.
NARRATOR: What are the trends in smart
homes like the house we have seen? How
much money do we spend on technology?
Elizabeth Mead discusses changing trends
in technology in smart homes.
ELIZABETH MEAD: The Smart Home’s
really gone, undergone a lot of changes
over the last decade. I mean, traditionally
we’ve seen very luxury systems [ … ] but
really we’re seeing very much a shift in the
home automation space from that luxury
segment much more towards the mass
market systems.
NARRATOR: That sounds like good news!
Soon we may all be living in a smart home.
Unit 4: Cities
NARRATOR: Everywhere you look in Saudi
Arabia’s capital, there is building work
going on. People all over the city of Riyadh
are busy building a new metro system.
Abdullah Allohaidan is an engineer on the
project.
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Second Edition
Listening & Speaking
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ABDULLAH ALLOHAIDAN: The Riyadh
Metro is part of the King Abdulaziz plan for
public transportation. It has 6 lines and
85 stations, some are overground stations
and others are underground, we also build
some stations over bridges. We use high
quality plans and engineering to build each
station.
NARRATOR: More than 5 million people
live in Riyadh, so the highways are always
busy. There are more than 800,000 cars on
the city’s roads – and that number is going
up.
NARRATOR: Engineers need five years to
build the metro; in that time, the building
work means that Riyadh is an even busier
place. The idea for the new metro system is to
help people drive less in the city. But what do
drivers think about it?
DRIVER, SPEAKING: The metro project
is good. The United Arab Emirates, for
example, has one; and I hope that we can
build one in our country too; but right now
it is difficult because of all the cars and
building work; lots of streets are closed too.
NARRATOR: Will the plan succeed?
Abdullah Allohaidan thinks it will.
ABDULLAH ALLOHAIDAN: The project can
really improve the city. There won’t be as
many traffic jams, and Riyadh can grow and
be more successful. This is a very important
project. In fact, it is the biggest one in Saudi
Arabia.
NARRATOR: At the moment, 5000
workers are building Riyadh’s new public
transportation system. In the end, engineers
plan for more than 55,000 workers on the
project. When it is finished, the metro will
cover 176 kilometres in the city. The Riyadh
metro will then be one of the biggest in
the world; but not everyone believes it will
solve the city’s problems.
DRIVER: I leave home at six o’clock in the
morning. I must start work at seven, but
I don’t usually get to work until half past
eight or nine because of all the cars on the
road. Even if they build the metro, there will
still be too many cars in Riyadh.
NARRATOR: Will the metro make traffic
jams like this one a thing of the past? The
people of Riyadh have to wait and see.
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Unit 5: Culture
NARRATOR: The beautiful countryside
next to Lake Geneva in Switzerland is home
to one of the last ‘finishing schools’ in
Switzerland. In the 1950s very rich families
sent their daughters to finishing school to
learn subjects not traditionally taught at
most high schools. In the past, finishing
schools taught rules about what is good
and correct behavior, and how to be a good
wife. But now, times have changed and the
classes have changed.
MME. NERI: Well, in the ‘Fifties they would
learn how to sew and they would sew ball
dresses for instance and that was one of the
first classes that went out of the curriculum.
NARRATOR: Some of the original classes
remain: talking at dinner parties and eating
difficult food is still “on the menu”. Pupils
eat different food without touching it with
their hands. They are “difficult” because
some students might not know the correct
way to eat the food or find it difficult to eat
them with a knife and fork.
MME. NERI: We’ve put in more
international etiquette, much more
international etiquette. We’ve added more
protocol also, diplomatic and official
protocol.
NARRATOR: Nowadays, some subjects
that are taught are different, and young
ladies have very different reasons to study
at finishing schools. Most of the subjects
that students learn now, help them become
successful international business women.
SOPHIE: I’m from Mexico City and I’m still
in high school. I just need one more year to
finish to go to college and I want to study
hospitality management.
LARA: My parents travel a lot and I go along
with them so I wanted to be self-assured,
regardless of whatever surrounding or
culture I was in, I wanted to be confident
that I knew what I was doing and I felt more
comfortable.
Unit 6: Food
NARRATOR: China is getting ready for its
mid-Autumn festival: the festival for moon
watching and celebrations. This shopping
mall in Hong Kong is offering traditional
mooncakes which are eaten during this
festival. Typical mooncakes are round with
a sweet center. The cakes take their name
from an egg yolk in the middle of the cake.
The circle of yellow looks like a full moon.
Mooncakes are traditionally given to friends
and family while celebrating the festival.
Today, it is common for businessmen
and families to present mooncakes to
customers or relatives as gifts in pretty
packages like this.
Eating mooncakes might be traditional
but they are normally filled with sugar
and other sweet things, and have lots of
calories. Health-conscious people, chefs
and cake shop owners want to change the
unhealthy cakes to create a more balanced
diet, and create a healthy mooncake with
different ingredients, like, fruit, nuts and
seeds. Here we can see Chef Shina Shimizu
making a healthy version of the traditional
mooncake. She uses ingredients such as
coconut milk, sesame seeds, and “Matcha”.
Matcha is a green tea which gives this
mooncake its green color. Chef Shina says:
SHINA: I think this trend will grow, because
people are definitely looking for healthier
options. Also, there are some people who
want to enjoy mooncakes but they cannot
because of dietary restrictions, and more
and more people have allergies.
NARRATOR: The healthy version of the
mooncake has the same shape and comes
in different colors.
Unit 7: Extremes
NARRATOR: Imagine the strength and
energy you need to run a marathon … and
now imagine what it must be like to run a
marathon in extreme conditions like the
desert! Simon Wheatcroft isn’t an ordinary
marathon runner.
He runs ultramarathons in the desert which
can be 160 kilometers or 240 kilometers.
An ultramarathon runner may need to walk
some parts of the race, like the hills, and
they need to stop to eat, drink, or even
sleep, if the events are really long.
Apart from the distance and the heat of
a desert ultramarathon, there’s another
challenge for Simon: he’s blind. He lost
his sight when he was 17 years old. Simon
normally runs marathons in the city where
he has a running partner to keep him
running in the right direction. To run in the
desert, Simon used an app.
SIMON WHEATCROFT: To run in the right
direction all you need is a bearing, so it may
be 40 degrees north that you need to run
for a certain amount of time. So we created
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Second Edition
Listening & Speaking
1 VIDEO SCRIPTS
an app using beeps, much like parking
sensors, so the further you deviated from
the bearing the higher the frequency of the
beeps.
TIM JACOBI: The major challenge was,
we’re trying to build something that is a mix
between a GPS tracker and something that
helps you park in your car.
SIMON WHEATCROFT: The key
improvement is to definitely take it to the
city marathon. So the app for the desert
used GPS as the navigation system. So
now can we create a system which can
identify the objects and then translate that
information to me.
NARRATOR: In May 2016, Simon nearly
finished the ultramarathon in Namibia.
Would he like to go back?
SIMON WHEATCROFT: Yeah, I’d absolutely
love to go back. You know, it’s definitely
unfinished business. The race is happening
again next year, I do intend on entering. But
then there’s a few other challenges I’d like
to do in the meantime and even beyond
that. Because technology always improves,
so we can improve the technology we’re
creating …
Unit 8: Vision
NARRATOR: An IT exhibition in Tokyo,
Japan. A company is showing their new
product: ‘navigation glasses’. People at the
exhibition want to try on the glasses to see
how they work, and to see if they seem like
a good invention. An engineer, from the
company that makes the glasses, explains
what they do.
YASUHIRO OOZATO: We have a demo
app with tourist information inside these
glasses, for tourists traveling to Japan. They
show the person who is wearing the glasses
a map of where they are looking. They
also have information about local tourist
sites. So if you turn around and look at a
road or a tourist site you can see different
information about it.
NARRATOR: The glasses are connected to
a cell phone and the app tells the glasses
where you are and what direction you are
traveling in. We already have maps on
smartphones but using glasses that give
us information based on the direction in
which we are traveling is a completely new
invention.
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RURIKO BABA: Because I won’t have to Unit 10: Work
check my phone at every corner, I would
NARRATOR: Did you ever think it would
personally like to use this product.
possible to have driverless cars like this, or
NARRATOR: What do other people think does it sound like something from a sci-fi
about the glasses? movie? Well, how about driverless taxis that
SHUI LIU: I think it is a good service. you can call using an app on your phone?
It helps people from other countries A company in Singapore is testing the first
understand maps and tourist sites. driverless taxis in the world.
Here you can see someone calling a taxi
Unit 9: Progress using the app. All you need to do is look at a
NARRATOR: A company in Korea has map, choose the place you want to go and
designed a robot fridge to carry food and the driverless taxi will arrive.
drinks. The idea behind this technology is
to use the robot in hospitals to give nurses An engineer from the company who
more time to help patients. It is cheaper to designed the cars has to sit behind the
use a robot than to pay someone to deliver wheel to test the car. He does not have to
touch the wheel; it is just to be safe and
food and drinks.
check the car is working correctly and that
There is one robot the size of large there are no accidents.
refrigerator but the team is now testing a
smaller model to see if it is just as good, or The car uses a laser scanner on its roof to
see what is near the car. The car stops when
even more efficient than the original.
objects or people are – in front of it.
The robot is not able to move around on
its own at the beginning. Someone in the The boss of the driverless car’s company
robot team has to help it learn where to go. says it will change the development of
cities in the future.
MARCUS LIEBHARDT: So we help the
robot by driving them around controlled DOUG PARKER: This is really a moment
with a joystick, for example. We drive them in history that’s going to change how cities
down the corridors, through the hallways. are built and how we really look at our
And during that phase, the robot generates surroundings. Autonomous vehicles are
a map. Once the robot has learned the actually going to change how we build
map it is able to navigate by itself without cities.
human help.
NARRATOR: The robot has sensors at the
top and a laser scanner at the bottom to
move around objects or people that stand
in its way.
MARCUS LIEBHARDT: The robot will stop
in time to avoid any collision and it will
also, if possible, re-plan its route, move
around people, move around furniture. If it
can’t find a route it will stop and wait for a
while.
NARRATOR: At the moment the idea is to
use it in hospitals to transport food, drink
and medicine. But where else can you use
the robot?
MARCUS LIEBHARDT: We also see useful
applications in airports, in shopping malls,
in restaurants. In those areas the focus
would not be medical application; it would
be more snack delivery, meal delivery,
drinks, but also small parcels; that’s also
possible.
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